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willpower
Your self-control is exhausted by simple mental math.
In a 1999 study, participants who were asked to memorize a seven-digit number were about 1.5 times more likely to choose chocolate cake over fruit salad than those who memorized a two-digit number.
Participants chose cake 63% of the time under high cognitive load compared to 41% under low load, rather than being twice as likely to do so.
Your will is only as strong as your focus.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Shiv and Fedorikhin, 1999
- What the check found
- The study found a statistically significant increase in preference for cake under high cognitive load, but the 'twice as likely' figure is mathematically incorrect based on the reported 63% and 41% rates.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.